Legend of Wu Xing
by Tophlet
Summary: Reavers can turn your whole world upside down. The Alliance will keep it that way.
1. Prologue

To some people on Wu Xing, things couldn't get worse. A hundred years of war had ripped all semblance of balance out of their lives and Fire Lord Ozai was gaining the upper-hand. But sometimes the 'Verse just has to prove you wrong, and it can do it with less than a breath: Reavers.

The first of 'em came down outside of Gaoling. Twisted metal and twisted minds all come together in a picture of terror the Fire Lord only dreamed of. But the Alliance has been doin' clean up since Miranda, and it weren't long till they showed up too, all shiny space ships and weaponry. Saw a good planet with fresh soil, saw a new people to stick under their belt and teach "civilization."

Only problem was, of course, that people everywhere got problems. Step onto a world with a hundred years' war raging and soon those problems become yours. It might have been easier to look at the dominance of the Fire Nation, send in a few more tanks and trade cash for allegiance, but the Alliance has dealt with rebels enough to know: people like that don't stop fighting. Instead they shined the shoes of the Earth Kingdoms and Water Tribes and arrested Fire Lord Ozai for crimes against humanity. They get their happy ending, the Alliance gets its blue hands in.

The Spirit of the World didn't exactly agree, so the story goes, but no one really knows what happened to him. Lot of people went missing when the Alliance moved into town. Mostly people they called "'benders."


	2. Chapter 1

Pan flutes hummed softly. Softly trilling birds could be heard faintly in the background. A brook flowed deftly around weather worn river stones to babble and wind around the spaces in Mal's ears. Synthesizer or not, Serenity sounded...serene. It made Mal uncomfortable.

"You mind tellin' me why there's new faces on this ship, Captain?" Or maybe it was the woman in front of him that set Mal on his toes. Zoe's face was as smooth as glass though her voice held its sharpened edge. It was completely at odds with the sight she presented wrapped up with a baby and the fluffiest blanket Kaylee could find on three worlds. The new mother's homecoming was something to be celebrated though she was on strict orders of rest from the ship's doctor. The whole situation made Mal feel like he was doing something wrong just by standing in the door.

And those birds were damn annoying, "Can you turn that off?"

"It soothes me," she deadpanned. There was no point in repeating the question. Zoe had a way of asking that bore itself down to the Captain's bones.

"We've got a man on loan from Big Daddy Holbrook to do what needs done from here to Bao Shu. Just long enough to get the job done."

"Last I heard we were runnin', not taking on passengers that require extra crew."

"Runnin' takes money," the clench of Mal's jaw told as bold a story as the heavy glare of his first mate. All she was saying were things he'd thought about himself. If it weren't for the gleaming recommendation their temporary man had from no less than three of their old pals, Mal would have scrapped the whole job. Passengers had started to leave a sour taste in his mouth but it was just one man and his money was good and, better, untraceable back to Alliance funds. But no money was so good that Mal'd be sorry for an extra eye he could be reasonably sure would watch his back.

Two new men aboard and they were technically two down. Mal didn't like doing math that added up to lost lives. Book and Wash were still fresh wounds nearly a year later and it had been a near miss with the danger of Zoe's pregnancy. Doc may have gotten her patched up enough to move out of the hospital but she wasn't going to be much good in a fight for a while. That would be fine if they still had Jayne but Mal hadn't watched that bridge burn long enough to know where it went.

He didn't like it, but there wasn't much he could do about it. It was the least dangerous job he could find and stay off the Alliance's radar. Murmurs about rebellion were getting louder lately, Mal just hoped they stayed in the shadows where they belonged and away from what was left of his crew.

The chip on his shoulder slipped the smallest bit when Zoe replied, "I don't like it." The words mirrored his thoughts so closely that the smile they brought was involuntary.

"Nothin' to like. You just concentrate on taking care of little Emma. I've got the rest."

I'd be very thankful for a review/critique. Thanks for reading!


End file.
